The latter point would seem to agree with Omar Minaya's recent comments on SNY's Hot Stove about the questionable productivity of the available free agents this offseason. Minaya claimed that, with the exception of John Lackey, no available pitcher's potential greatly improved over the Mets' current lot. And he's right. Joel Pinero does not represent a significant upgrade over Ollie or Maine at their best. We just know he pitches competently (if a bit over his head in 2009) and will take the ball every turn. We the fans weren't so interested in upgrades as we were in stability. We didn't get that; Minaya felt the money was better spent on upgrades or not at all.

Olney goes on to make the point that the Mets' inability to acquire another starter this offseason puts more pressure on Oliver Perez for the upcoming season:

By all accounts, he is in much better condition this spring, at least
giving himself a chance to rebound; he looks good. And given that the
Mets lost out in the Joel Pineiro bidding -- he wanted to sign with New York and thought, in early
January, that this was where he was going to land -- and the bidding
for Ben Sheets,
Perez's success or failure could be a barometer for how the team fares
in 2010. The Mets need a strong No. 2 performance behind Santana, and
that seemingly must come from Perez, who is the one other starter that
the Mets have who is capable of consistently missing bats.

It's amazing how so many players on the Mets mimic the haze surrounding the team's chances in 2010. Players like Perez, Beltran, and Reyes generate so much uncertainty that no one knows whether to expect excellence or calamity. We want to call Perez a mess, Beltran a bum, Reyes immature. Deep down, we know we can't because we know each of them is perfectly capable of making us eat crow.

Very few free agents from this past offseason represent significant improvements over the Mets' current lot if that lot performances to their career standards. More importantly, the Mets did acquire one of those players in Jason Bay. The team made the best of a bad situation as the Hot Stove Season rapidly comes to a close.

The only question remaining revolves around whether the bad situation created by the 2009 Mets and the team's front office can turn this ship around. Oliver Perez will be an important piece of that, for better or worse.

All we can do is hope it's for the better.------

Around the Web

Matthew Pouliot of NBC's Circling the Bases summarizes the Mets' depth charts, with Pouliot concluding that the most glaring holes are at catcher, first base, and second base. It's not pretty, but it's littered with potential.